Alea Iacta Est
by Stella Flametongue
Summary: I'm no hero. Not on Earth, and not on Remnant. But it looks like, to get home, I need to become one. Self Insert. [DISCONTINUED]
1. Remnant Awakening

Forever Fall.

The petals fell endlessly, but the trees seemed to quickly regrow petals to keep falling. It was beautiful... but also a bit sad. Watching them fall made me feel at peace.

Something I had long wished for.

I laid there for what seemed to feel like an eternity, but it was only an hour or something like that. Pushing myself up to a sitting position, I realized that maybe I had been daydreaming a bit too much. But it all seemed so real, it couldn't be a daydream.

It was probably a dream. I've had vivid dreams in colour before, and I was fully aware of what I was doing... This was probably one of them. Then again, I'd really never... felt anything in the dreams. I was feeling the petals under my hands, and the... grass. It was all red.

I stood up finally, making sure to dust off when-

 _"Damn perverts!"_

My clothes were different. I'd been wearing my jeans and just a normal T-shirt last I remembered. Now it was a low-cut black blouse that bared my shoulders (which I tried to cover to no avail), a blue skirt with a white sash tied around it, white shorts and black boots. My hands had a pair of blue gloves covering them, and I had a damn choker on my neck too.

Whoever dressed me like this was going to die. And it would be a very painful death. Well, once I found them, of course. In the distance, I could see familiar-looking buildings. That's when I realized that maybe it wasn't a dream. I would never dream myself in these kind of clothes.

Taking a breath, I headed towards the buildings in the distance, hoping to whatever deity resided here that I wouldn't have to walk too far.

But, I ended up walking all the way there. It took quite some time, so I sat at the fountain and took off my boots and socks, rubbing my aching feet. That had been a lot more walking than I was used to, but at least I'd arrived at Beacon itself. It was certainly more impressive in person than when I watched it on the web.

I just hoped that I wouldn't end up having to fight. Unlike everyone else, I wasn't a trained fighter. I hated it, in fact. Talk about being soft.

"I think we've found our trespasser," a familiar voice cut into my thoughts and I hastily put my boots back on... but my socks were first. I stood up and turned around to see Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port standing close enough to me to freak me out.

I backed up a couple of paces. "I-I just found myself here! Well, not here-here but in Forever Fall and I walked over here and took a break..." Of course, by the time I finished explaining, they were basically frog-marching me to a cell.

* * *

For the first hour, I cried. I had never wanted to end up in jail and now I was in one. The second hour, I paced and hummed different tunes in my head.

The third hour was when Professor Ozpin arrived. I had heard his footsteps and made sure I wasn't crying again when he entered the cell. It was odd, as we merely stared at each other.

"Please, sit. I only want to talk to you," he said. I did, biting my lower lip as he took a seat across from me and took a sip from his mug of... coffee or black tea. I didn't know which.

"I've been informed that you were on the school grounds without prior authorization. Care to tell me why?" Ozpin seemed not to hold any contempt against me. In fact, it seemed like he was genuinely curious. I fumbled with my hands, thinking.

"I was in Forever Fall... but I'd been out on a walk beforehand... I saw Beacon in the distance, and.. well, I'd hoped to figure out why I was here. Then Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port found me and I..."

I clapped my hands to my mouth after realizing I said too much. Ozpin, however, didn't seem to question it. He seemed to be doing a Dumbledore, seeing right through me like an x-ray. Perhaps this was what Harry felt like in those books..

"Hmm." He took another sip of his coffee, as if in thought. "I don't doubt that there are forces at work trying to dissolve the balance we Huntsmen and Huntresses have fought to keep. If you are to stay here at Beacon, you must become a student."

...Well, damn. Really? "Um, I guess. I mean, if that's the only way... Don't get me wrong, Beacon is awesome! I just.. don't know if it's right for me," I admitted, feeling ashamed and foolish. Ozpin chuckled, and I smiled nervously.

"We all aren't born with knowing what we'd like to achieve in life. It comes to us as we grow. I merely decided to become a Huntsman to protect humanity," Ozpin told me. I had a feeling that wasn't the entire reason why, but I didn't press for information.

"I.. guess I understand. So, I'll... become a Beacon student. It's the only way I'll be let out, huh?" I asked, merely guessing. It was a surprise that Ozpin smiled at me before taking yet another sip of his coffee. But the real mystery was what was in Ozpin's mug. Coffee, or tea?

It could be chocolate milk for all I knew. He pulled out his scroll device thing and had opened something on it.

"First things first, then. What's your name?" Ozpin asked. My actual name didn't follow the rule that Remnant had been following for years after the war. The colour rule, the one the series creator had made..

"Azura. Azura Lloyd."

It was better than nothing. After a few moments of silence, Ozpin stood up. I did as well, and we both exited the room. He had probably added me to the student registry, because he was leading me towards the main classroom area... well, until he handed me off to Professor Goodwitch. The two of them had a conversation, and the lady professor lead me to the dormitories. I literally got a four-person room to myself, but it wouldn't be for long.

"You will be assigned a team once suitable students are found. Until then, you can shadow teams RWBY, JNPR and CRDL to find out what teams are to be like," Professor Goodwitch told me. I merely nodded, making a small reminder never to shadow CRDL.

She left me with a scroll and a class schedule.. And a uniform. I picked up the uniform on the bed next to me before putting it back on the bed and flopping down on the other one with a groan.

This day was just getting better and better.. Not.


	2. Naming the Weapon

The uniform was different from my current clothes, but the problem for me was the skirt. It wasn't really practical, and perverts liked getting panty shots from unsuspecting girls. Looking at my schedule, I let out a groan. Grimm Studies was my first class, but in an hour. According to the digital clock on my scroll, it was eight. Giving a sigh, I went to take a quick 20-minute shower and decided to search the room after dressing in the uniform... and putting my shorts on under it. There was an empty notebook and a pen in one of the places I investigated, which was the drawer of the nightstand near my bed.

Taking my scroll and class schedule, I headed out to try and find the Grimm Studies class. A part of me wanted to ditch but... I doubted that Professor Goodwitch would like hearing about how I ditched on my first day. I just had to grin and bear it.

Because I didn't have a map, I took forever to find where Professor Port's class would be. He was already talking about how he'd bested some sort of Grimm when I entered the class. His pause to look at me kind of made me want to back out. It was at that moment something came and knocked me over, sending me to the ground. I grumbled, getting up and heading to an empty seat. The class was boring, so I went ahead and doodled in my notebook. I didn't have a weapon, so I drew sketchy weapon concepts. Professor Port started talking again, which I drowned out with my sketches and thoughts.

Blissfully, class ended after about an hour of torture and Weiss attempting to take out a Grimm by herself. I left the class to hear Weiss and Ruby's argument... or the last of it.

"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team..." Ruby sounded distraught. Weiss was angry, and it was pretty clear by her facial expression alone.

"Not a team led by you. I've studied _and_ trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better," Weiss said, turning around. "Ozpin made a mistake."

Ruby dropped her hand, having reached out for Weiss before she said her parting words. Ozpin reached Ruby before I could. I walked away, deciding to go sketch in peace for a while.

The night came and went. This day didn't require us to wear our uniforms, so I reluctantly dressed in the freshly-washed outfit I'd worn upon finding myself here. Afterwards, I figured I'd shadow Team RWBY... But from a safe distance, as my interference could wreck the storyline. We were treated to a tournament-style match, one I was pulled out of prematurely. The nameless staff member, who I later found out was named Melanie, took me to the armory, where the lockers were.

"Your weapon was delivered last night," She said, matter-of-factly. "This is your locker, where your weapon resides unless you need it."

I looked to the locker itself, which was numbered 532. Melanie had me enter a passcode, and my locker opened to reveal a pistol. I reached in and grabbed it, only to see it transform into a staff before my eyes.

"Now, you'll be going to Forever Fall with Glynda Goodwitch and Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL. Choose one of the teams to shadow today. You'll be helping them collect the red sap."

"I chose Team RWBY today," I admitted, just as the three mentioned teams arrived to collect their weapons. "I'll shadow them."

"Then I'll inform Glynda." Melanie walked off, and I sighed, attempting to figure out how to collapse my weapon back to a pistol. Oddly, when I thought about it, the weapon transformed itself. I put it in my sash, wishing I had a proper holster for this thing.

"Hey, you're the girl I accidentally knocked over!"

I turned around, and realized Ruby and I were nearly the same height. Blushing from embarrassment, I nodded.

"Um, yeah. I'm As- Azura. It's.. nice to meet you. And don't worry about the knocking over thing! It happens." I held out my hand for her to shake, which she did enthusiastically.

"I'm Ruby. Is.. that your weapon?" She pointed to my pistol, which I took out of my sash and handed to her.

"Yeah. It's a staff... and a gun," I said, shrugging. She seemed to get the sparkly eyes as she turned it into its staff form and swung it around with exaggerated karate movie shouts. I laughed a bit.

"You're silly, Ruby!"

"Is.. that a bad thing?" Ruby asked, blushing from embarrassment as she handed me back my weapon. I shook my head as I put it back in my sash after collapsing it to its pistol form.

"No. Most of the people I know and knew were silly. It's a good thing." I patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"So... what's your weapon's name?"

Before I could say anything in response or confess I didn't name it yet, Professor Goodwitch called us all, and we headed off to Forever Fall.

* * *

It was the same part of the forest I had woken up in that we headed to. I was carrying Team RWBY's box of jars, careful not to drop it. Ruby had insisted that someone else on her team could carry it, but I wanted to be a bit useful to the team I was shadowing.

Professor Goodwitch told us that Professor Peach had asked for the red sap to be collected. During her explanation, I looked back. Jaune was carrying a case of six jars. I shook my head, facing the team I was shadowing. I couldn't interfere. If I did, the events would be screwed.

Then it hit me. They _already_ were screwed up. After the tournament match, we were supposed to go to Doctor Oobleck's class and.. Cardin was supposed to find out tonight about Jaune faking his transfer scripts!

I was screwing up the events by merely _being_ here!

Yang took the jar box from me and handed me one. "Here. You need one, too."

"Thanks.." I smiled a bit before going to collect the red sap. I felt really guilty about Jaune, but there was nothing I could do. Once my jar was filled, I capped it and returned to the box, putting my jar in it. Looking up at the trees, I cursed my knowledge of events. Why did I have to know everyone and the events up to Breach?

I put a hand to my ear. Pretend to hear something I was too far away to hear. "Did... anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Yang asked. That was when we heard the roar of the Ursa. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and the events here played out as they should.

Jaune _owned_ that Ursa, with a bit of Pyrrha's help. It was more awesome to see it in person than on a laptop screen. Professor Goodwitch was waiting for us when we got back, and the trip was cancelled due to the Ursa. It wasn't anything serious, but I could've sworn I heard Jaune humming as we headed back to Beacon.

"Is supersonic hearing your semblance?" Yang asked. I shook my head.

"No... I... faked it," I admitted. "I don't know my semblance. But it's probably lame."

"So you faked hearing that Ursa? What for?" Weiss demanded.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to," was all I said before walking off. Ruby caught up to me, putting a hand on my arm.

"You.. never did tell me what your weapon's name is.." She said. I turned to face her, finally having a name for it.

"It's called Dream Flange."


	3. Beacon's Loser Girl

Day three of my stay at Beacon wasn't as good as I had thought it would be. I had decided to shadow Team JNPR today, and we were in Professor Port's class. He was talking about the Beowolves he slayed as a kid, and I sketched in my notebook. A paper ball hit me in the back of the head and I winced, muttering a reflexive 'ow' before looking behind me. Cardin shared my class schedule, it looked like. He gave me a sadistic grin, and I turned away. Going back to my sketches, another paper ball hit me in the back of my head. It looked like I was Cardin's new target, or maybe Jaune was too far away.

"-Will select three students from the class to fight the Grimm I have brought to class." Professor Port's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I closed my notebook. He glanced around the classroom, and then pointed at Ren, Jaune...

...and me. Damn it.

"Lie Ren, Jaune Arc and Azura Lloyd, please change into your battle gear and report back here."

The three of us left the class, Jaune taking the lead.

"Why.. did he pick me? I'm no fighter.." I murmured to myself.

"He picked us at random," Ren said. Jaune nodded in agreement, turning to face me.

"Don't worry so much about it!" He said, smiling widely. "We'll beat those- Whoa!"

Jaune tripped over a few bags in the hallway leading to the armory. I giggled a bit, holding out my hand and helping him up.

"Be careful," I said. Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.

"Shoulda.. watched where I was going," he said, giving a nervous laugh.

After a few moments of changing into our battle gear and not destroying Beacon property with our lockers, we returned to Professor Port's class. He had the cages out already, and opened them after calling out for us to begin.

Our opponent was Beowolves. I pulled out my pistol and watched it turn into a staff. The Beowolves pounced immediately, and so did Ren and Jaune. Well, they charged in... they didn't pounce, obviously.

One of the Beowolves jumped over them to me, and I freaked. Not knowing how to fight was a disadvantage, and the Beowolf preyed on it. It knocked me into the wall, and I felt an ache in my back. It wasn't the pain I was used to feeling, so it was really... awkward to feel an ache instead of terrible pain.

I could barely defend myself with my staff, let alone get away in time. It hunted me, and it wanted my blood.

Jaune's sword sliced through the Beowolf just as Ren finished off the one that attacked him. I dropped my staff, getting up and hugging Jaune before he could say anything.

Afterwards, Professor Port talked to us about weak links, and how the Beowolf had sniffed me out as the weakest link. I heard Cardin laugh, along with some other students, and buried my head in my arms. Tears stung my eyes, and I forced them back. I wouldn't shed tears over this. Letting this get to me wouldn't do a thing. It would just give them power over me.

Class ended and I got my stuff, leaving out the door even though Professor Port had called the name I went by in this school. I didn't listen. I wouldn't.

"Azura! W-wait!" Jaune's voice was accompanied by his footsteps. "Professor Port was callin-"

"I'm not going to talk to him, it'll only fuel the fire." I cut him off, shaking my head. "And, anyway, my arms are starting to hurt. I'm sorry, but I'm ditching the rest of classes today."

"Alright..." He sounded dejected, but I kept walking. My arms never ached like this before, so it was strange that they were. Just as I slowed to a stop, sharp pains shot through my arms, and I cried out.

I must've blacked out, because the next thing I remembered was a nurse explaining that my Semblance had caused the pain in my arms.

From what she said, it sounded like my actual ability to take away pain had become my Semblance in Remnant, but to a different degree. I could actually _heal_ others, take their pain and injury... But, in return, it would hurt me unless I threw the pain and injury away.

Thanking the nurse, I left the infirmary and found my way back to my empty dorm. My scroll button was blinking, so I checked my voicemail.

 _"Hey, it's Ruby. I wanted to invite you to see the city tomorrow. Let me know if you wanna come!"_

I sniffled a little, pressing a few buttons on my scroll's touchscreen to call Ruby back. I only got her voicemail, though.

"Ruby, it's... Azura. I'd like to come with you tomorrow. Thanks for the invite..."

* * *

"Oh, cool! You can see the sea! My aunt said we'd go to the beach one day, but never did!" I shook my head, remembering waiting to go to the beach but never doing so.

"That's sad." Blake commented.

"It's alright. I get to see what the ocean looks like in person instead of on a Scroll now, so... Thanks, Ruby.. for inviting me."

"No problem! Ooh! Look! The ships came in!"

And off of those ships came Sun Wukong, being chased by a ship crew. A couple of Mistral students on said boat just shook their head. Ruby and the team took off after Sun, and I was basically left there alone. Ah, well.

Exploring Vale was the best thing ever. Though I did get lost partway through. Someone, however, ended up running into me and we both fell over.

"Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going! ...Do you know how to get to Beacon Academy? They're hosting us students from Haven."

I looked at the person who spoke, noting she was vaguely familiar. But I couldn't place where I'd seen her at.

"I don't know my way back there... Hang on, I think my Scroll has a map." Getting out my Scroll and standing up, I found a map of Vale. The From Dust til Dawn shop was right behind me, so I used that to get directions.

"Okay. You go right two blocks, left one block and you'll come to the carriers to Beacon. It'll be there."

"Alright, thanks!" The girl headed off, and I went to find a bench to sit on. Attempting to call Ruby did nothing, so I tried calling someone else... but no one picked up. Putting my Scroll in my pocket, I sat there drumming my fingers on my legs.

"If it isn't the loser girl from Port's class."

I looked over, seeing Cardin and his posse- no, team- walk up to me. I got up, turning away and starting to walk away from them when Cardin grabbed my arm.

"Let _go_ of me, Cardin!" I pulled, trying to get my arm out of his grasp. His grip wasn't easily broken, attesting to how much stronger he was compared to me.

"How'd a loser like you get into Beacon? Did you fake your transcripts like our buddy Jaune did?" Cardin asked. His buddies laughed.

"I said let go!" Continuing to try to pull away from Cardin did nothing. "Get your grimy hand off of my arm!"

"Or, in exchange for us not telling... you do us a few favours." I could basically hear the smirk in Cardin's voice. "You don't want to be kicked out of Beacon, do you, loser girl?"

"I think she said to let go of her arm, kid." A brown-skinned, burly man walked over to us. He was taller than me and wore a white vest over a green turtleneck short-sleeved shirt and had brown pants with dirty-looking boots. His faunus traits, mainly a long golden tail with a brown tuft of hair at the end, two rounded cat-like ears and his bushy mane of golden hair, was what differed him from a human. "So I suggest letting go before I get mad."

"What're you gonna do, Pops?" Cardin asked. In response, the man let out a ferocious lion-like roar. The pressure on my arm was soon gone, and Team CRDL was gone.

"I'm... sorry to have... gotten... you.. i-involved," I said, my voice breaking as I tried not to cry. The man hugged me, and I broke down bawling. I hated fighting like that with people, it always scared me.

"You're okay now, kid," He assured me. After he let go of me, he took me to a nearby café and we sat down at a table.

"What's your story, kid? Why was that punk pickin' on you?" The lion-man asked. Taking a breath, I told him what happened in Professor Port's class, and how Cardin was known to be a bully there... And I guess he put two and two together.

"So, you need to learn how to fight, huh? I'm a former fighting instructor from Signal. I could take you under my wing, but you gotta be prepared to learn a thing or two," he said. "Name's Jet Hunter. You can call me Jet. What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Azura Lloyd, a student at Beacon," I said. My fake name was becoming second nature now. Jet grinned at me and held out his hand. I timidly shook it just as our orders came. We made small talk over tea and tiny sandwiches, and came up with the idea that Jet could contact Ozpin to see if he could come tutor me at the academy.

We parted after giving each other our Scroll numbers to keep in contact, and I headed back to Beacon. Finding my room, I opened the door with my scroll and sat on the edge of my bed.

Today had been utterly exhausting.

* * *

Five figures stood in the distance of Beacon, in Forever of them spoke.

"She's not adjusting quick enough for our tastes."

"Patience. She's learning. Give her time."

"He's right. We should keep observing until her potential shows itself... and then steal her out from under Ozpin's nose..."

Hissing eminated from the middle one. "She should've been ours! We laid claim to her but Ozpin stole her!"

"She's got you there."

"Either way, it would be better to steal her later and have her shatter her 'friends' to pieces after we break her and train her to be a killing machine!" The one on the far right said.

The crickets chirped, and laughter filled the air.

 _It's time... to awaken._


	4. The Loneliest of All

There had been persistent knocking on my door. From morning until lunch, then in the evening until bedtime. But I ignored it and my scroll, curling up under the covers of my bed and silently crying. I was wishing I was at home, in my own bed with my cat and my security and...

Thinking of it made me cry a bit harder. I was homesick. Cardin's bullying had made me wish for home, a place I could never go back to. Not until I found out how, of course..

Before I knew it, it was morning and the barrage of knocking started again. And then, my door opened. The covers were pulled off of me and I sat up abruptly, looking into the eyes of Ruby Rose, who seemed to be looking at me in concern.

"You... wanna come eat breakfast with us?" She asked. I merely nodded, getting up and following Ruby out of the room. Yang threw an arm around me when I exited the room.

"You're going to love this, Azura!" Yang said, acting as if we were already friends. Just like Ruby.. "Yesterday, a Faunus arrived in the middle of Doctor Oobleck's class and asked all of us a bunch of questions before sitting next to Weiss! You missed the look on her face!"

Weiss made a distressed noise. "I had no look on my face!" She retorted.

"She did have one," Blake interjected.

"Ugh! I did not!"

"Calm down, Snow Princess," Yang said.

I listened to them talk, not really contributing to the conversation. The four of us headed to the cafeteria, Ruby having disappeared. They all talked around me, and then Ruby slammed a binder down on the table. She started talking about how today would be the best day ever, and then Weiss got hit in the face with a pie.

Chaos happened. Food was thrown everywhere, and I once got a pudding in my face. Wiping it off, I blinked. Everyone was running away, and soon it was just me, Team RWBY and Team JNPR.

Nora's laugh echoed. She stood on top of a table pyramid. Unlike in the show, however, she was wearing her battle outfit. Just like everyone else, honestly.

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be... _DELICIOUS!_ " Ruby held the crushed milk carton high, and the rest of Team RWBY cheered. Nora jumped down from the pyramid and watermelons flew at us.

Well, damn.

Team JNPR had an extra person, who came straight for me. Looking to my side, I found a baguette and attempted to defend myself with it. I miserably failed, and got sent into some tables, knocking them over into the air. The person then kicked me into the wall, and I hit it pretty hard. But I got back up and chucked my baguette through the air, and it hit Jaune on the head.

The person kicked me aside, and I winced, grabbing a turkey and tossing it at them. It hit them in the back of the head, just as Weiss came flying through the air and hit the pillar behind me. I moved out of the way as Ruby caught Weiss.

"Weiss?! Don't leave me!" She followed it up with a cry of 'Nooooooooo!' as Yang and Ren faced off, and Yang won... but Nora sent her flying through the ceiling. Ruby ended the fight by using her semblance and slamming Team JNPR into the opposing wall.

"You're not half bad," The person walked up to me. "I'm Roy. Roy Li."

Roy, who was a redheaded girl with blue eyes, wore a long-sleeved white shirt with a breastplate and pauldrons, a pair of brown pants and some form of shoes I hadn't seen before. She held out her hand to me with a smile.

"Azura Lloyd. Nice to meet you. Sorry I sucked back there. I'm new to this fighting thing..." I trailed off.

"You got me good with that turkey. Oh! That's ri-" The doors slammed open and Professor Goodwitch arrived, sending everything back to normal in the cafeteria. Yang crashed in through the ceiling, so Roy and I took that cue to leave.

"You... know Roy is a boy's name, right?" I asked as we headed towards Beacon's classrooms from the cafeteria.

"So's Blake."

"Touché. So, what were you saying before Professor Goodwitch came in to restore order?"

Roy paused, and looked like she'd gone deep in thought. "Right. Your team's formed. I'm a part of it. Team AZRA. Congrats!"

She smiled at me, and I weakly grinned back. Upon returning to the dorms, I was greeted with a pair of pyjamas hitting my face.

"Zephyr! Don't carelessly toss our leader's clothes at her!" A male voice said. Zephyr shrugged, picking them up and putting them in my nightstand.

"Sorry." He said, sitting on his bed. "I'm Zephyr Tides and that's Arian Fawkes. We're a part of AZRA."

I nodded, sitting on my bed. Roy shut the door. The next few hours was filled with questions, ones that we asked each other. Our weapons, our home lives... Everything. By the time night came, we'd become acquainted with each other.

I only hoped it wouldn't be just a dream.

* * *

"Lunge!"

Sweat dripped off my brow, and I flung my staff forward, holding it with two hands. Jet had been working me to death for the past two hours, and I felt like collapsing. He blew his whistle, and I dropped to the floor.

"Good job, kid. We'll be doing three hours tomorrow, so get to bed early tonight," he said, handing me a canteen of water. I drank it, but made a face at the taste of it. Noting the look, he laughed.

"Enriched water. Has all sorts of vitamins and stuff to prevent dehydration," Jet explained. "That's why it tastes that way."

"Figures. I'm gonna hit the showers. See you tomorrow," I said, handing him back the canteen and going to shower. Afterwards, I headed to classes. It was basically the same routine every day now. Roy was chatting with me, and she was quick to befriend Team RWBY... well, Ruby and Yang were pretty easy to befriend. Blake took time and Weiss was generally impossible. But Roy wouldn't give up. I had to admire that about her.

Cardin stepped up his bullying when my team wasn't around. I'd generally find myself getting my ass handed to me. It turned out he'd told Ozpin about me, and the reply he'd gotten hadn't been one he was hoping for.

"You may be the Headmaster's favourite, but I won't rest until you're out of Beacon," Cardin had threatened two days ago. I'd learned to keep my mouth shut, as some of the teachers here at Beacon favoured Cardin because of his general jock-like style.

"You okay, Azura? You look a little peaked." Jaune placed his food down and sat next to me as I pushed around the food on my plate.

"I'm fine. Just not too hungry," I said. "I eat a big breakfast."

"Breakfast _is_ the most important meal of the day," Pyrrha said, sitting down on my other side. I felt a little nervous, knowing this wasn't just a social visit. Ren and Nora joined us, and my nervousness increased. I took a bite of food just so I wouldn't have to talk.

"Do you want me to break Cardin's legs?" Nora asked, a hint of sadism in my voice. In unison, we all basically said no.. well, I did after I swallowed my food.

"I can deal with Cardin. It's fine. He bullies everyone, remember?" I gestured to where Cardin had smacked a student's tray out of their hands. Cardin was laughing and walking away to join his posse, and I groaned, putting my head in my hands. Pyrrha put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over at her.

"Sorry, I'm.. a bit tired. I'll talk to you guys later." I got up and left, trying to find out where the Headmaster's office would be located but.. I resigned myself to going back to my dorm and taking a mental health day.

Upon arriving, I noticed Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. Stepping aside to let them pass, I could've sworn Cinder looked at me with interest. Ignoring that, I walked up to Ruby.

"You okay, Ruby?" I asked, worried.

"Yeah. Just a little accidental bump in with Haven students," she laughed nervously. "I'll see you later, Azura!"

In a flash of rose petals, she was gone. I sighed and headed back to my room, to find it empty with a note.

 _Gone to Vale. Be back at nightfall!_

I tore up the note in frustration and fell face-down into the bed, letting out a scream... before crying again. I just wanted to go home. I hated it here. I never wanted to be here in the first place!

That day was the first time I'd cried myself to sleep. Maybe Cardin really was getting to me... but I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems.

Maybe tomorrow, I'd find a reason to stay...


	5. Regrouping Oneself

Ages.

Since coming to Remnant and becoming a Beacon student, it had felt like ages since I'd been home. Remembering the people I left behind actually hurt, so I focused on classes and training. It was no surprise that I was actually getting by with some studying thanks to Arian. I never really did have good study habits, in all honesty, so Arian was a life saver.

But the lonely feeling I felt wouldn't go away, no matter how many people I sat with. Ruby always made it a point to sit with me and my team, and Jaune made excuses to bring his team over. Even though I enjoyed having people to talk to, it just.. felt forced. So, I started hiding out at the library during lunch and read as many fiction books as I could handle. Avoiding was the best bet, especially if they were acting as if...

 _As if they cared._

I couldn't figure out why I was lonely, and it came to a head during the Beacon dance. Roy had me dressed in a blue strapless dress with heels. I felt exposed when we arrived at the dance, and quickly excused myself to where the food was. I could see how everyone was enjoying themselves, but I didn't feel like joining in. Until Yang dragged me off the chair.

"It's a party! Join in! Don't just sit there looking pretty!" Yang said, smiling. "Come on!"

She dragged me onto the dance floor just as a new song came on. Everyone was dancing, and having a good time. All I could do was just stand there, staring at them. Yang stopped dancing and looked at me with a quizzical look on her face.

"What's wrong? You're usually not like this." She was worried and I could hear it in her voice.

"That's the thing. I don't know what's wrong or why I'm feeling so... lonely," I sighed, shrugging. "Remnant... Vale.. They're so different from home and... I guess I'm homesick.."

"It happens. Why not go home this weekend and see your family? I bet they'd be happy to see you!" Yang said. Something bubbled up then, and I turned to face her.

"My family is better off with me dead," I snapped. "Right now, I bet that bastard's happy I'm out of his life! You... You'd never understand how my family would be better off without me."

Yang didn't respond. I'd blown it, so I turned away and walked out of the dance just as Cinder arrived. But she looked at me the same way she had a few days ago.

And everything went to hell afterwards.

I can barely remember what happened after me and my team returned from our mission. It's still all a blur of voices and colours. The main reason being that... I was probably unconscious on the way back.

The mission of us shadowing Professor Galdwyn had gone without a hitch, up until the city was broken into. He left us there to go back, and we were forced to complete it alone. It had been a safe mission until the Grimm attacked, and I was still very weak compared to my teammates.

Beowolves attacked us, along with some Ursai and that armoured Grimm with the unarmoured underside. I'd attempted to help, but I'd been smacked around and thrown into the nearest wall.

But then, the next thing I knew, I was waking up. Professor Galdwyn reprimanded me for taking off without his permission and told me I was suspended, pending expulsion. It's not a pretty thing to wake up to. I guess, in my despair, I'd left Beacon because the next thing I remember is sitting at a table with Jet and watching the sky go by.

And then, Cinder came.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, but didn't wait for a response as she sat down with me and Jet. Her attention turned to me, as if Jet didn't exist. "I saw you at the dance. Mind telling me why you left?"

"I needed time alone," I lied, looking at my drink.

"I see. Well, you should come with me. I'll show you something you haven't seen before," she got up, and I looked at Jet. He nodded, so I ended up leaving with Cinder. One of the villains of RWBY was leading me somewhere, and I didn't know where.

She showed me dust shops.

I'd merely stared at them until she _bought the dust_ instead of having someone steal it for her. I thought it was out of character for her, and wondered why she was doing that.

I merely followed her, and she talked about Dust and its properties before handing me a container full of blue dust.

"Don't lose it," Cinder said, before taking me back to Jet. The lion faunus took me to see Professor Ozpin at Beacon about my suspension. We had to ride in an elevator, and I kept my gaze anywhere but the visible view of death below. I didn't care when not around the edges of the academy, but...

I hated heights. It really hadn't been apparent before, but if I dropped from this height...

"We're here, Ozpin."

Jet's voice shook me out of my thoughts, and he left me there to face Ozpin. The headmaster didn't look angry at all, but I couldn't really tell.

"Your team has been asking where you went, as has RWBY and JNPR. It's lucky that Jet found you when he did," Ozpin said. "There have been Huntresses in training that have been going missing, so we're to all be extra careful from here on. Including you. Now, according to Professor Galdwyn, you left the mission area to take care of Grimm with your team. Is this true?"

"No, Professor. When the city was broken into, Galdwyn left. He left us there alone and blames me for it..? I didn't do anything!" I could feel the tears welling up and wiped them away. "I swear, Professor Ozpin! I didn't order anything of the sort! I wouldn't lie about this..."

"And yet you've only lied once before..." He looked at me, as if examining me for any traces of lies. "When you told me your name, it wasn't really the one you wanted to say, was it?"

I hung my head. "No, sir... but.. my name doesn't follow the rule of the four Kingdoms of Remnant. I chose the name I did because it fit the rule..."

Professor Ozpin took a while to answer. I felt guilty and ashamed of myself, as I was probably supposed to. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again.

"Let me tell you something. I've made many mistakes in my life. Galdwyn had made me think, for a moment, that you being here was one of them," Ozpin faced me again, and I could hear his footsteps grow close until he lifted my chin so I'd look at him. "But it wasn't a mistake. You _need_ to be here, if you have any hope of surviving in a foreign world much like this one."

He let my chin go, but I was still looking at him. Ozpin turned away, picking up a tablet scroll and coming back over. "I'll be overriding Galdwyn's suspension of you and reinstating you as a student. Jet will continue to train you until you are on par with the Beacon students. Do not let me be wrong about allowing you to stay, Azura."

I nodded, taking that as a dismissal and heading out of the office. At the bottom, Roy was there with a worried look on her face and Ruby was there, too.

I smiled weakly at them, and headed to the library. They followed, and I saw Yang, Blake and Weiss playing against Neptune in Remnant: The Game. Peering over Neptune's shoulder, I noticed he was literally dominating Remnant. Guess he'd played the game before.

"Neptune winning again?" Ruby asked.

"Yep. Ice Princess isn't fairing well. Vacuo's the only country left that hasn't been dominated," Yang said.

"He cheats!" Weiss slammed her fists down on the table. "It's the only reason my army hasn't destroyed him!"

"He's a master at this game," I said. "And Weiss has lost."

"I have not! I demand a rematch!" Weiss said. Yang got up from her seat.

"You wanna play, Azura?" She asked. I nodded, and she offered her seat to me. Walking over, I patted her shoulder.

"Sorry about the dance. I was homesick," I said. Yang chuckled.

"No big deal. Everyone gets homesick. Just don't take it out on me next time, alright?"

* * *

The next two hours were spent losing horribly to Neptune and throwing a card at his face. He dodged it, obviously, and Weiss fumed as she lost again.

"Round five?"

"Bring it!" I said, getting ready for another round. Yang and Ruby took over for Blake and Weiss, and we all lost again.

"He's cheating!" Weiss complained as we left the library before lunch. "That's the only way he'd win!"

"You just can't lose without complaining, can you, Weiss?" Yang asked, grinning. "I don't hear Ruby, Blake or Azura complaining."

"He cheated!"

I rolled my eyes, grinning as we made it into the cafeteria. A hologram appeared at the front, and it was of Professor Goodwitch.

"Good afternoon, students. Before you get settle to eat, there is one thing I must tell you all..."


	6. Ominous

**A/N:** All fluff, no plot. You're welcome. Enjoy.

* * *

"The Vytal Festival tournament is coming up within a week. Any teams representing Beacon will sign up the day before," Professor Goodwitch said, pushing her glasses back up. "As it is, you all must be on guard. The White Fang is increasing its efforts and may attack unprovoked. Keep your teams with you at all times when leaving Beacon."

The hologram faded, and we headed to get our food, sit down and talk like the old times. Before I let homesickness get me down, it had... been like this. Cardin was going to redouble his efforts to get me out, and I knew it. But, honestly, I didn't care. I had friends here, even if I'd only been here... a month? Time seemed to fly by so fast, it was unreal.

Ruby was talking about entering, and so was Roy. The two of them seemed really excited for the tournament. If only I was, I could've joined in on the conversation. But they talked about it excitedly, and I couldn't help but get infected by the excitement despite myself. The two of them were gushing over what weapons that they'd see and what their names were.

"Come to get you back to trainin'," Jet's voice tore clear through my thoughts. I nodded and got up, leaving Roy and Ruby to talk about the tournament. The training area was different today. In fact, it was Forever Fall. Jet started me on the basic drills before getting back to the althete crap that I knew I couldn't do. Jumps, backflips, twirls... How to carry my weapon during these moves. It was hell, and I always needed a shower afterwards because of how much I was sweating. Afterwards, he had me fight a Grimm to see how far I'd come. I wasn't able to kill it until I shot it with my pistol. But when I did, it felt like training had paid off.

But I still had a long way to go.

When I got back to my room, there were clothes on my bed, folded up and ready to use. Odd. I shrugged and went to shower, coming out after dressing in the clothes. They felt soft..

The dark blue jacket was long, at least to my knees, with intricate designs woven in light blue threads to the back, the white shirt was basically just a normal shirt, the black pants were fitted with two bags, which had Dust in them, and the boots, which were also black, were laced with white strings. There was a place to put my weapon, too. Pulling on my gloves, I put my old outfit in the laundry.

There was a note that simply told me to put the clothes to good use. I stared at it before putting it away in my nightstand and heading out, making sure to take my weapon with me.

I checked my scroll, which had all sorts of messages from Ruby, at varying degrees of worry, two from Yang and one from Roy. I listened to them all before putting my scroll away and kept walking. It was dark out, and I sat at the fountain while severely wishing I had some sort of way to decipher a message. It felt like... I dunno, someone just liked making me feel indebted to them or something?

"Everything's been thrown out of whack since I got here. I couldn't figure out what was happening next. And now... Cinder bought me Dust, I have new clothes, and I'm..."

"A sitting target?"

I looked over, only to see Ruby there. She smiled meekly and waved at me before sitting down with me.

"Isn't it difficult, Ruby? ...Being a leader with no formal training in the subject?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. But look at Jaune. He didn't think he was cut out for it, but Ozpin knew he had it in him," Ruby replied, running her fingers through the water. "He knew you had it in you... You just don't know it yet."

"I see." I looked up to the shattered moon, staring at it. "What if he made a mistake with me, though? I'm not good enough to be a leader..."

"Nope!"

"Huh?"

Ruby grinned. "You're good enough. You just have your ups and downs... Like anyone would, really. You're a great leader, I can feel it," she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "There's really no reason you _can't_ be."

"Thanks, Ruby."

"No problem!" She smiled.

I got up off the fountain and pulled out my weapon before turning to her. "Can... we spar?"

"Prepare yourself!" Ruby said, jumping off the fountain dramatically and pulling out Crescent Rose.

And that was the night Ruby kicked my lame ass.

* * *

Classes continued the next day, and the first class was Doctor Oobleck's. He talked about the Faunus,and discrimination before assigning us an essay on the pros and cons of Faunus discrimination. Professor Galdwyn kept calling on me, even when I didn't have my hand raised and Cardin got all his answers right... obviously.

Professor Port was easier to handle, and I finally proved to him I could take out a Grimm on my own after all that damn rigorous training. He was happy at that, and told me I reminded him of himself. I blanched, and left class at the bell.

School basically was the same, except for the fact I started seeing Cinder, Emerald and Mercury during lunch between classes. Jet would take me to Forever Fall after I ate something and we would train, and I'd shower and, after classes were over, I'd go to bed. It was basically the same routine.

It was also a good thing, as it prevented me from thinking about home. Weiss still complained that Neptune cheated at Remnant: The Game, though. Still funny, too. Even after we all lost to him. There'd been a time that Ren had almost had him when Neptune took out his army. Nora initiated another food fight at dinner, and this time my team and I participated.

The week went by fast, and I'd had fun. One night, I was out by the fountain again when I heard footsteps close in on me.

"Good evening, Azura. I think it's time you came with us."


	7. Scars and Burdens

**A/N:** Family issues. Here's the next chapter, since they're over now.

* * *

I turned on the spot to see Mercury and Emerald, minus Cinder. It had been Mercury who had spoken, and he was grinning. Emerald rolled her eyes while he drew closer. Backing off, I smiled uneasily.

"I really don't want to. I mean, I like it here at Beacon. I'm not gonna go with you," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry."

"Even after our boss gave you that gift?" Emerald said, gesturing to my clothes. "She _really_ would like it if you joined us."

"Cinder? No thanks. I mean, the gifts _are_ nice and all, but I'd rather remain loyal to Beacon and not stab the headmaster in the back." I shrugged.

Mercury's expression changed. "Refusing? Too bad, you would've been a great member of the operation," he said, his expression one of distaste now.

"No thanks."

A part of me wished I'd agreed, but I wasn't about to lose Ozpin's trust in me... if he trusted me after I lied to his face, that is.

Mercury ran at me, before spinning around and pointing his boot at me. I leaned left, but the bullet still grazed me. Blood splattered onto the ground and I clutched my face. I had narrowly avoided death. And all because I refused to join their operation.

"You can't dodge forever, Azura!" Mercury snarled.

"Like hell I can't!" I snapped. "Watch me, poison boy!"

He tried attacking again, but I backflipped out of the way and pulled out my staff. We spent the next hour dodging each other's attacks, and soon I fled as fast as I could while bleeding. It hadn't stopped, and I felt slightly dizzy from the loss of blood.

I probably passed out, because next thing I knew I was waking up in the infirmary. The nurse inquired about how I gained my injuries, but I refused to say. Her Semblance had healed the worst of it, but it had scarred. The scars were on my left cheek and above my left eyebrow due to the angle I'd stood at when Mercury shot at me before I dodged. He'd gotten me again during our fight, but it didn't burn as bad as the one on my cheek.

I stared at the mirror for a long time, trying to figure out why they'd been so intent on killing me. Perhaps it was just like Tukson, or they wanted to eliminate me before I became a threat to them instead of joining their lackluster cause.

Maybe it was just me, but it really felt like the latter.

"What happened to your face?" Yang asked. I blinked. Right, cafeteria. Lunch. With the teams I'd come to know as people.

"Training accident," I shook my head as I said that. "No big deal, really. Nothing huge or major. Just an accident."

"Like Ozpin's appointnent of that Faunus, Jet, as our new instructor?" Weiss asked. She might've been not-racist to Blake, but... she was still slightly racist against the Faunus as a whole. They, as in Team RWBY, were working on it.

"I guess..." I remembered the day I'd talked to Jet, and how he'd let Cinder walk off with me. My hands tightened around my cup of coffee, and I didn't even feel it when it spilled on my hands. Perhaps I'd gone numb completely, and was too detached to care about the pain. The concered looks got to me, so I wiped up the coffee spill and excused myself.

As I walked through the halls, I wondered if Jet had known who Cinder was. If he was a part of the White Fang, he probably did. It would suck, though, as he was a pretty nice guy. My opinion of him would change, though.

That day, during class, he set me up against Team CRDL. I lost horribly, and he chewed me out for it and sent me out of class to the laughter of the students. He'd watched, with a smile, as I got my ass handed to me by the team I'd told him about.

And Cardin gloated about it just to get a rise out of me. It didn't work, as I just avoided places he'd be at. Which meant I just stayed in the room my team and I shared on breaks and such. The problem with that was that I ended up practically starving myself to avoid the school bully. I lost a fair bit of weight over the next... week? I don't remember how long I went without food, but I did know that my stomach ached like all hell.

"Gonna come out?" Roy asked, before shaking her head and leaving without an answer. Zephyr and Arian did the same. I curled up on my bed, closing my eyes as I heard...

Well, persistent knocking.

Super persistent. It sounded like they had... eight hands or something. I put my pillow over my head, and then it was ripped off by an angry-looking Weiss.

"What are you doing?" She asked, in a tone that told me she wanted a satisfactory answer.

"Staying out of sight," I replied.

"You're hiding and being a coward." Blake, I love you, but don't tell me the obvious or I might have to call you Captain Obvi-Faunus. Okay, not funny.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Care to tell me something I don't know?" I snapped, before groaning amd sitting up. "Sorry, I'm just in a bad mood."

"We could kinda tell," Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck as she came over and sat next to me. "Professor Hunter _was_ pretty cruel to you. A lot of people know Cardin would do anything to get you out of Beacon."

"We were just lucky Roy lent us her scroll to get in. She does know we're all pals," Yang said in an optimistic voice.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" Blake asked. I shrugged before pulling my right leg up to my chest. Weiss grumbled as she dragged me to the cafeteria. Yang, Blake and Ruby followed, and we sat at a table. The one who got the food was Ruby, and she'd gotten everyone's order down pat. I ate in silence, mainly wondering when the tournament would begin. According to Weiss, it would be three more days until the tournament and everyone had basically signed up.

Roy had signed up team AZRA, but had neglected to mention it to me. The bonds were broken, and there wasn't any repairing them, was there? I felt awful, for the first time in forever, and excused myself to go to Ozpin's office. Maybe I just needed to leave and stop burdening Beacon with my presence. Cardin wouldn't stop bullying me until I left, and I doubted that I could take much more.

After all, unlike everyone else here... I was weak. Just a burden and a blight on the school.

It was high time I corrected that.


	8. Through

**A/N:** Wangst ahead. Read at own risk. And it's only because I'm not too cheery of a person IRL. Depression sucks, trust me. I'm attempting to keep true to who I am, so if it bothers you, read the next chapter... alright?

* * *

It was a longer walk to Ozpin's office than I remembered, honestly. Maybe it was because I just wanted to run away and go home. I was severely homesick by now, which was affecting my mood pretty badly. My cat, my mom, my brother... I wondered if they missed me. In a tiny part of my brain, a voice told me that they, and the rest of the universe, didn't need a worthless person like me.

Perhaps it was right. Maybe that was why the world here hated me. Maybe RWBY and JNPR didn't really like me at all, and were just polite to my-

"Azura!" A voice came out of nowhere, almost literally. I jumped, turning around and was just about to get my scroll when I noticed who it was. Jet. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him and going to find Ozpin's office. It was, after all, my destination in my walk of shame. Giving Cardin what he wanted would be the last thing I'd do in Remnant. I would leave, go back home... no, I'd just leave and wander for the rest of my natural life. Of course, Jet didn't like it when I ignored him so he grabbed my wrist.

"You know, I am a teacher here now. You should be-"

"Screw off! Let go of me! I told you about Cardin, and you set me up against them in class and _enjoyed_ watching me suffer! I trusted you!" I yanked my arm out of his grip, looking at his neutral expression. "I made that mistake. Never again. Goodbye, Jet Hunter."

And I ran away, quickly heading for Ozpin's office.

* * *

An hour later, I was finishing packing my stuff up when the door opened and Zephyr came in. He was carrying a box, ignoring me as he set it on his bed and opened it. I picked up my bag and headed out the door, walking by Roy and Arian as I did so. No one was seeing me leave, until a hand grabbed my wrist.

"Leaving?" Zephyr's voice, which he barely used at all, was a shock to me. I turned to him, shrugging. The voice in my head told me he'd be glad I was leaving... that I would stop being a burden. So I nodded in response, watching his expression..

He went from a blank expression to one of pure anger. It was certainly odd, in a way. Why would he be angry? Because I was leaving? He should be happy...

"Why?" He asked, anger apparent in his voice. I just stared at him, before adjusting my bag and looking away. I technically wasn't allowed to leave, but I needed to. Away... I needed to get away.

"Let her go, Zephyr," Arian said, taking Zephyr's arm. "We're not her team any more. She's been expelled. Professor Hunter said so himself. Goodbye, Azura Lloyd."

"Mm." I nodded, leaving them to do whatever they were doing as a three-person team. Jet really wasn't my friend... No one was, were they? At that moment, I felt hopeless. Like I really wasn't needed.

 _"You have a good heart, Azura. But you let yourself get immersed in the voices in your mind. Dispelling them would do you good."_

The words echoed in my head, and I walked over to the fountain. Every time I needed to be alone, I came here. Sitting on the edge, I pulled one leg up to my chest and pondered Ozpin's words. Did he really know what was in store for me in the future?

I didn't understand, and I felt like I never would.

"Azura? A-are the rumours true? Did you really get expelled?" Ruby's voice made me look up to see the black-haired girl in her Beacon uniform. She looked as if she was worried. For once, I didn't reply.

"You didn't do anything wrong.. You're innocent," she stated. I shook my head. My lies would eventually break all the trust I had with everyone here that I associated with.

"I did a lot of things. Lied, cheated... I'm a joke. I'm only here because I would've ended up in jail otherwise. I'm no good." I stood up, grabbing my bag. "I'll see you, Ruby Rose."

Before she could say anything, I left the school in the next ship available, curling up in one of the corners. Maybe I should've joined Cinder's cause, because this sucked.. It sucked way too much, really. First the scars, then what Jet pulled... I just hated it. I couldn't even think right.

"I'm... I just want to go home..." I murmured, as the ship landed. I made no move to exit it, burying my face in my knees and sobbing gently. Remnant was just like home, except with more bullies. Cardin, Jet, Emerald, Mercury... I knew I couldn't get along with everyone, but I hated feeling like I was in grade school again... Where everyone hated me for no reason except that I was different.

My scroll went off. An unknown caller was calling me. I accepted the call and stilled my sobbing, putting the phone up to my ear.

"H-hello?"

"Meet me at the café. There's something.. I found that'll make everything a _loooot_ easier."


	9. The Vytal Tournament: Stage 1

I didn't understand why people were trying to give me advice, keep me around... But I still went to the café regardless, because that person had intrigued me. I didn't know who it was, and it felt like someone was really screwing with me but... I guess taking risks at times was what I did. When I opened the door, it was near packed full of civilians. Paying 20 Lien for a cup of coffee, I sat at an empty table and took out my scroll.

Meet at the café... and who was it that wanted to? I knew it was a guy, but the voice wasn't familiar at all. The door opened again, and some guy plopped themselves at the table. He looked like a Hunter, but I couldn't be sure... Besides, he was wearing his weapon in public. It wasn't like I recognized him, as my knowledge of RWBY's current storyline was now useless, so I merely stared at him. He was an older man, looked about in his twenties or thirties, with auburn hair, grey eyes and an odd outfit I couldn't make heads or tails out of. His weapon looked like a normal sword, so it made me wonder what it transformed into.

"You're... Ozpin's jail case, aren't ya?" He asked. "Thought he told ya not to go anywhere."

"Jet Hunter was telling everyone I got expelled, so what was I supposed to do?" I asked, thanking the waitress for my coffee and pouring some cream into it with four sugar scoops. "Stay? My team wants nothing to do with me, Jet Hunter is an ass and I've been trying to fit in but I can't! Look at my face! Mercury Black shot me with his boots and I'm lucky I'm still alive. If I let him kill me, maybe I'd go home!"

The man set down a flask on the table before waving down a waitress and ordering us both some actual food. She left with a smile and his attention returned to me.

"Jet Hunter works for the White Fang. He was training you to become a part of Cinder Fall's company. Ozpin never hired him. He _knew_ of Jet, but why he allowed Jet to train you is a mystery. Perhaps he saw something with that Semblance of his..."

" _You_ need _to be here, if you have any hope of surviving in a foreign world much like this one."_

Had he seen my future? In the series, which wasn't anywhere near completion, had never said _anything_ of Ozpin's Semblance itself. But that would explain why he never touched anyone, and why he'd told me such things.

"He... saw my future?" I asked. The man shrugged as the waitress set down two plates of food. Vale had all the things my homeworld did, and then some. I looked at the food, which was basically pancakes, bacon and some eggs, and dug in as the man started talking.

"Only a bit of it. You see, he doesn't like using it, so he limits it to what he hopes will give a person hope to continue. He's a strange man.." The man took a drink from the flask. "Name's Dainn. Doesn't follow the rule like everyone else's, but it's a name."

"What's your Semblance?" I asked, finding the name oddly familiar. I didn't know why, though.

"Shadows. Kinda like that Faunus you hang out with.. Blake, I'm guessing? But mine's different."

"Huh.." I finished my food, just as the man finished his. We both left and I followed him to what looked to be a forgery of some sort. There were people younger than me here, working on weapons. Dainn took my weapon and threw it into the lava before situating himself at an open station.

"Got a weapon design in mind? We're gonna build it here, and I'll train you in it. I'm not gonna be two-faced like Jet. In fact, it was Ozpin who sent me. He has my partner, Amethyst, talking to your team. We're Beacon students ourselves."

But he looked so... adult that, when he saw my expression, he laughed and shook his head.

"I'm kidding. We're old Beacon students."

I breathed a sigh of relief and the two of us got to forging my new weapon.

* * *

It was hard to return to Beacon. Professor Ozpin had assured me everything was alright, and that I was still welcome but... I wanted nothing more than to hide. To be where people couldn't see me. I was taken from Dainn by my teammates who tried to get the story from me. I wasn't opening my mouth or anything.

I probably just shut down. So much had happened that I'd been overloaded. That's what Zephyr said, at least. Roy said nothing and Arian glared at me.

I ignored Arian yelling at me for being a 'fucking idiot', in his words, and Roy's soft words of disappointment. I didn't... even know why I was here.

At that moment, I stopped knowing anything. From what Arian told me, I'd blacked out. Possibly from sheer stress, with everything that'd been put on me from day one. I guess it was that, but I didn't know anything besides what I was told. The thing was, I only had the morning to learn how to use my new weapon. We were fighting in the afternoon, so it didn't leave me much time to master it.

A sword-gun. A gunblade would be a more technical term but the gunblade was an overused name for a weapon like mine.. I had named it Seeker, and I needed to wield it well in the first fight.

Before I knew it, however, we were walking onto the battlefield and two sides of it was chosen. Water for the opposing team EMBR and a forest for us. They were the first to attack, and we had to defend ourselves. Zephyr was like a ninja, here and there while fighting a pink-haired girl who could shoot flame arrows from her bow. I was fighting a teleporter who kept moving from one place to the other, super reliant on their Semblance. I could barely get a hit in, and it felt like they'd tear me to shreds. But then Arian knocked them out of the ring with his hammer, freeing me up to go help the others.

The pink-haired girl turned her attention on me, and started shooting arrows at me. I knocked away a few, and Arian covered me as I went in for the attack. It gave Zephyr and Roy enough time to knock the girl out of the fight.

The ones remaining tag-teamed us. They were twins, and seemed to see through all our attacks. Despite this, they couldn't predict what Zephyr would do.

It was a miracle we even won the match. The twins had eliminated me, Roy and Arian, but Zephyr had taken them out pretty much by himself. It seemed like the angrier he got, the more unpredictable our silent warrior became.

"So, who's your choice for the next battle?" Ruby asked.

"Azura and Zephyr," Roy said. "The two of them held on the longest, so they'll be able to take on whatever comes to them."

 _"Good going, Red!"_ A male voice said. I heard laughter, and then a familiar voice.

 _"Thanks. Guess you and I will see each other in the finals!"_

I excused myself, running after the girl that was leaving. It.. It couldn't be... could it?

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry, took some liberties on Semblances and whatnot... Even if it isn't canon, pleasedon'tflamemeforit. My beta reader and I both thought it was cool.


	10. Reunion

_"Red!"_ I yelled, desperately weaving through the crowd as I tried to get to the familiar girl. She paused, and I collided with her... which sent us both crashing to the ground. "Red, it's me!"

"Who's me?" Red asked, before she got a good look at me. I smiled sheepishly, knowing she might not know who I am.

"Ummm, Ash. We both had an insane weeby friend we both called Hotaru but knew her actual name and she went psycho on us? And stalked me through you?" I said, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck after we both stood up. "We also created a story together?"

"She _was_ psycho! But oh my gosh, it's really you! But I don't have an RV," Red smiled, and the two of us hugged.

"It's fine. Oh, and here I'm called Azura.. Much like you get called Red."

"Suits you."

The two of us basically headed to the ships going to Beacon, as both of us were staying there. Red told me she'd just found herself at Haven and intergrated into life there, while I told her about all the crap that happened during my stay here. Cardin was _still_ after me, which majorly sucked but I had no control over his bullying except to take him out during a battle.

Our talk was cut short when we came across a battle scene. A white-haired woman was fighting against a dark-haired drunkard. Well, he seemed drunk at first but.. as the fight started, it looked like he instantly sobered up. Him and a white-haired girl, probably related to Weiss, were battling each other like they hated each other.

"Th-aaat's my Uncle Qrow!" I heard Ruby yell. Red glanced at me.

"Dude... was that Ruby?" She asked. I nodded.

"We're in Remnant. Who did you think it was? Some unnamed extra?" I said, shrugging. Looking at the fight, it was getting intense. People were cheering, and Weiss' relative seemed to send birds at Qrow. We _almost_ saw his weapon's scythe form, but it was disappointing when he put his weapon away.

"I'll introduce you to Ruby and her team! Come on!" I said, as the crowd dispersed. Taking Red's wrist, we headed into Beacon. I knew where Ruby's room would be, having passed it while the door was open, so it was pretty easy to locate. Oddly, we arrived as Ruby and Qrow were playing a video game. The door was open, but I knocked on the door anyway.

"Ruby, sorry if I'm interrupting. I brought a friend," I said, giving a nervous smile.

"Come in! I've been into your room unannounced before," Ruby said. "This is my uncle, Qrow!"

"And this is Red. We've known each other for years." I said with a smile on my face. "So, you're Ruby's uncle, huh? That was a good fight in the courtyard."

"I can see why Ruby holds you- OW! Azura, why did you elbow me?" Red was holding her side, a look of pain on her face.

"How'd you know?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know about that, Red?" They were both looking at her, and I stepped in front of her to take the gazes.

"You two are going to think this is crazy, but..."

* * *

"...So, basically, neither of us know how we ended up in Remnant. But we're hoping to find out," I finished. Yang had joined us halfway through, and all of them were looking at us in disbelief.

"They don't believe us, Azura... Dude, we should.. go. Now." Red tugged at my arm, but I stood firm.

"Guess that explains why the bad guys are interested in you.. Still standing, huh?" Qrow asked, and I nodded.

"Just barely. Both of us, although Red here knows Sun and Neptune. She's safe."

"But you two being from another world is crazy! And our lives being a show? That's how you knew about us!" Yang said, standing up. "But you never said anything."

"Azura was scared, Yang. She said so at the beginning. But she trusts us.." Ruby stood up, too. "It'll be okay, we'll help you two get home."

"Just watch your backs." Qrow advised, before he left.

The rest of the day passed with little incident, except for Weiss and Blake finding out. The next day, Red and I met up with Team RWBY and JNPR to asses the situation and we revealed what we knew about the bad guys from the things we saw on the show. The thing is, they were all too eager to help.

That was Ruby's fault. She'd told them, and they'd readily accepted it. After all, we were friends. At least, that's what Nora said. It felt nice, to be accepted. At least by them, honestly. Sun and Neptune had eavesdropped, and so they ended up being a part of what Nora called 'the Master Plan.'

Red was called to go help Garnet, her partner, in the two-on-two battles. So we went to cheer them on. Afterwards, it was Coco and Yatsuhashi against Emerald and Mercury.

Though the two put up a good fight, Emerald and Mercury beat them. It was disappointing, but I could've sworn Mercury looked at me and drew a finger across his throat. I shuddered and left the arena.

This was getting to be the worst day ever. But it just got even worse as I looked at the lineup for tomorrow. I was to face my mortal enemy in combat. In the afternoon. I couldn't beat him in my current state.

"Need training help?" Dainn scared the living hell out of me, materializing out of nowhere. "We have until tomorrow afternoon, but we can't rest until you feel like you're ready to fight well with your new weapon."

"Fucking hell, Dainn! Scare me like that again, see what happens." I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm down. "But alright, we'll train."

"Good. Because... wait, what are you thinking?"

"Train me to fight like that guy in the courtyard!"

Dainn facepalmed. "No. No. And no. Now come on, we have training to do."

I know it was childish, but Qrow's fighting was really good. Like, super good. But I was stuck with Dainn training me, which was pretty good in all seriousness. Our training usually took place in the same area that the tournament-style bouts went on in.

Which meant Ruby and Red were there, along with their teams, cheering me on and trying to help me. Dainn's style of training was basically fighting against me and correcting my moves, which was the only way he knew how to train people.

"Kick his butt, Azura!" Ruby yelled from the stands. "You can do it!"

"Look out behind you!" Red yelled. Just in time, too. I dodged Dainn's shadow, but he grabbed me from the side.

"Let's try again. And no backseat fighting," he called up to the stands. They all looked kinda sheepish. We began again, with me literally getting my butt kicked each time. But I was getting the hang of it. So, when I transformed my sword into its gun form, I got an edge over him. But not a big edge.

The final verdict?

I was going to lose _horribly_ tomorrow unless I used my sword like I used my old staff.


	11. The Vytal Tournament: Stage 2

**A/N:** Because I'm referencing what happens in season 3 of the show, I'll be slow updating. Well, for two more weeks. I'm only going to chapter 13 with the tournament before the main plot gets into action.  
Also, for those of you who hate how things go too fast and hate that the chapters are only 1k+ words, I'm writing these on a phone and can't write a lot before my finger starts cramping. Sorry.

* * *

The next day, the tournament opened with a fight that none of us saw coming. Red and Crimson were up against Penny and a girl that let Penny do all the work. Due to this, Red and Crimson lost the fight. Ruby left the stands, to talk to Penny, and I looked to Yang and Weiss.

"Good luck out there!" I said with a smile. Yang gave me a thumbs up while Weiss... I think Weiss smiled? I couldn't tell, because she and Yang left a bit too quickly.

Their opponents were Flynt and Neon, who were pretty good at fighting the two. Weiss tried to knock Flynt out of the game, but she was the one who got knocked out instead. Oddly, at this point, Pyrrha left the stadium for something.. And it confused me. But I couldn't tail her because my match started in fifteen minutes once Yang eliminated Neon and Flynt from the tournament.

"Let's go get ready, Zephyr," I said, getting up. Zephyr nodded, following after me as we got ready to face Cardin and Sky. I was nervous, mainly because I didn't think I could come out of this alive.

 _"Use your sword as your old weapon? I can see how that would work... but be careful, don't accidentally knock yourself out of the tournament,"_ Dainn had warned me when I proposed this strategy to him. I wished he hadn't incinerated my staff, but what was done was done.

Our field was forest, ocean, mountain and volcano. Cardin and Sky were at ocean and mountain while Zephyr and I were at forest and volcano. The signal for us to fight began and, as predicted, Cardin came straight for me and Sky went after Zephyr.

"You're not getting lucky again!" Cardin said. I looked behind me. Volcano, just my luck..

But if I used it to my advantage, then Cardin will get knocked out and will finally stop bullying me. He was just like... Just like that man I despised with all my heart. Standing up to Cardin meant that I could stand up to him when I returned home.

"My luck hasn't run out yet, Cardin," I said calmly. He swung his mace, and I blocked it like Dainn had blocked my hits. Good. I was learning, finally. He didn't seem too happy that I blocked his attack and, so, he started attacking again and again. I jumped out of the way just in time as a spurt of lava burned Cardin's aura away.

Hey, my plan worked a bit!

But, as predicted, Cardin got mad and went on the assault. If I learned anything from watching the fights, it was moves that I couldn't execute. Not yet, at least.

But one move came to mind as I dodged his attacks. A risky move, since it would leave me open but... I had no other choice.

I did a downward slash, followed by a sideways slash and an upwards slash. Cardin dodged them easily, smirking, and raised his mace as I hit him twice with an X-formation slash. Playing video games paid off for something, at least. Zack's Cross-Slash attack had given me a good start to chipping away at Cardin's aura and eliminate him.

Just then, we heard a buzz and looked at the screen. Sky had been eliminated by Zephyr, who only had 50% of his aura remaining. Cardin actually cursed, and swung his mace. He hit me across the face, sending me flying into the forest area and made me break a couple trees.

"It looks like Azura is in a pinch. She's held out against Cardin, but will it be enough to defeat him?" I heard Doctor Oobleck say.

"It will.." I muttered, getting up and swapping my sword into gun mode before spinning the lens, which was located above the area the safety was. Inside the lens was different forms of Dust, and my lens stopped at red, which then filled the empty areas of the gun with red dust.

"Eat flame bullets, Jockstrap!" I yelled before unleashing shots of dust-infused bullets at him.

The buzzer sounded.

As my bullets hit Cardin, Zephyr had come up from behind and used his brute strength to bash Cardin into the ground, effectively depleting his aura as he got blasted by lava.

We had won.

I stood there in disbelief. Wecd actually won. Zephyr walked over and patted my back with a small smile on his face.

* * *

"That... was... AMAZING!" Ruby said at dinner that night. We were all sitting together at a table, talking about the matches. "You and Zephyr kicked major butt!"

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without Zephyr," I admitted, being honest. "I also learned a bunch of cool moves! Too bad I can't skate like Neon."

"She might say you're too top heavy," Yang said, fuming.

"I can't balance worth a damn on skates. Trust me, I've tried. I have terrible balance," I grinned sheepishly. "But you're not top heavy, Yang. You could probably skate if you wanted to."

"Thanks, Azura," Yang smiled and returned to her food just as Pyrrha arrived at the table. She put a hand on my shoulder and I looked over at her.

"Professor Ozpin wants to talk to you," she said. "I was told to bring you to him."

"Alright. I'll see you later, guys." Getting up, I waved at them as I left with Pyrrha. Unbeknownst to us, Ruby had gotten up to follow and, when we were halfway there, Pyrrha noticed her.

"S-sorry. It just seems like every time we sit down to talk, Azura has to leave. I'm her friend, can't I know what's going on?" Ruby asked.

"The headmaster did ask for you, too. But Azura was supposed to bring you after meeting with him," Pyrrha said. Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Really?! I'll save you a trip and come with you, then!" Ruby said enthusiastically. Giving up on changing her mind, Pyrrha and I went to the elevator and she was humming as she entered it.

Ozpin and Qrow were waitimg for us, and Qrow was drinking... coffee? Huh.

"I see that Ruby has tagged along. No matter. You three must be curious as to why I called you here," Ozpin said. "I assure you that once Neo gets here, I will explain everything."

"Neo?! Torchwick's lackey?! Ozpin, she's a criminal!" I said, outraged. Ozpin merely shook his head as Ruby opened her mouth to confirm it.

"She is an undercover agent from Beacon, and only a year older than you, and has been helping us with intel," he said. The elevator chose that moment to open, and out came a black-haired girl. Her eyes, however, were pink and brown.

Neo.

"Ah, good. Now that all of you are assembled, I can tell you what this is about," Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "There is a force at work that brought both Azura and Red here. From what Red told me, they were friends in the world they came from before ending up here in Remnant. I assume that you have no idea how you got here, Azura?"

"No, I actually don't. All I remember is... well... being.. hurt." That was right. That man had smacked me with something. But why was that my last memory before I ended up here?

"Cinder and her gang brought you here through Dust usage and with the help of an organization that we don't know the name of yet," Qrow stated. "Both you and Red."

"But, why did you call us here if just to tell us that?" I asked.

"The three of you will be training under both Dainn and Qrow to hone your skills and make sure you're ready for what is to come. Amethyst will provide you new battle equipment. This will keep you prepared for the inevitable."

The inevitable...

Ruby, Pyrrha and I were being trained for the inevitable. The only thing was that I didn't know if I could take it. They both looked apprehensive, but..

We had no choice.

No choice but to march to our deaths.


	12. Discontinued & The Ending

For those of you who read/favourited/followed this story, I have decided to discontinue it for a pseudo-sequel of sorts.

Due to the reason the 'Self-Insert' became more of an OC, and I lost all my plot notes. The pseudo-sequel will be found on AO3, because it's difficult to upload here nowadays.

Here's the ending, since I can't post this without it being a fic chapter.

* * *

"You know, I'm gonna miss you," Ruby said with a small smile. I nodded, giving her a hug. I would miss her, too. Letting go, I looked at the survivors of the war. We'd lost so many, and all because Cinder wanted to be god.

Pyrrha... She'd sacrificed herself to take down Cinder with Amber's help.

Peter Port and Qrow Branwen had died on the battlefield, against Roman and Adam.

Blake had done a kamikaze to kill a Grimm.

Neptune had protected Weiss.

Velvet and Cardin had fought Mercury... and died.

So many people I'd miss. Well, except one.

 _"Ready to go?"_

"In a minute." I looked at everyone, and took Red's wrist. We both smiled.

Ruby was crying. Yang ran up and hugged us both, nearly breaking our backs.

Sun told us to take care of ourselves.

Ozpin asked that we visit again someday.

Coco smacked our butts and told us we did a good job.

Everyone was looking forward to seeing us again someday. We hoped we could.

Red and I waved, and turned away, walking into a shining yellow light.

* * *

 _"There will be a day we're needed again. Until that day comes, we'll train. We'll make sure we're ready to take on all comers._

 _We won't back down."_


End file.
